Magical Game
by DigimonDragonLady
Summary: *dances around happily* Yay! Another new fic to add to my pitiful little collection on ff.net. This one's pretty bizzare folks...but...what can I say? I had to give it a shot. A fantasy digimon fic. Kensuke as always. R/R please! ^_^
1. Chapter One

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Dragon Lady: _Hi!!!_

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Ken: _Wow its been a while since we've put up a story hasn't it?_

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Dragon Lady: _It sure has!! Boy was this story a long time in coming! _

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Ken: _Wait!!_

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Dragon Lady:** *pauses in confusion* **_What?_

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Ken: _You can't say anything about the new story yet!_

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Dragon Lady: ***is still confused* **_Um…why not?_

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Ken: _Because! I haven't complained and done the disclaimer yet!!_

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Dragon Lady: _Oh yeah…that's right…Well what are you waiting for then? Hurry up already!_ ***crosses arms impatiently* **_I wanna tell about my new story!!_

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Ken: **Okay, okay**_…_***takes deep breath* **_Disclaimers are so stupid because they are enormous waste of my time and yours and why can't we take credit for Digimon, its just not fair! But every time one of these fics is posted its always the muse who's forced to admit how he and his author own nothing of value and its always the muse that feels terrible in saying it because his author isn't being recognized for anything more than some little fan fiction that most people won't read anyway…_***stops***

Dragon Lady: _Are you done complaining yet?_

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Ken: _Um…yeah I think so._

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Dragon Lady: _Then do the disclaimer._

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Ken: ***sighs* **_DigimonDragonLady does _*not* _own Digimon or any of the characters she uses in her fic. She has nothing of value to give you and just about no money to her name, so please don't sue us!_

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Dragon Lady: _All finished?_

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Ken: ***resentfully* **_Yes._

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Dragon Lady: _Good. Because there's a_ *lot* _that needs to be said about this fic…if anyone actually_ *is* _reading…Okay…here goes. This is a kind of strange fic, but it's the kind that I love doing. **^_^ **Its fantasy and full of wonderful magic and all kinds of goodies. I've got my own little disclaimer to put here. I've borrowed some of the concepts from just about any good science fiction or fantasy book I've ever read. So no I didn't come up with a lot of this stuff on my own, I just borrowed several author's ideas and shmixed them together understand? You'll read things that relate to any number of fantasy authors…bits and pieces from the short story _"The Rule of Names" _by Ursula K. Le Guin, from the wizarding books of Dianne Duane, I believe there are some small snippets from the book _"The Chronicles of Chrestomanci" _by Diana Wynne Jones, and I think I put a section in there from the narnia books by C.S. Lewis. _

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Ken: _Dragon Lady didn't steal their work, she only borrowed bits of it for a fan fiction, and she did so to show how much she admires their efforts and contributions into the wonderful world of fantasy writing. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Even if it comes in the form of a Digimon fan fiction._

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Dragon Lady: _Anyone who enjoys fantasy as much as I do should check out these authors…C.S. Lewis's books were ones I read in the fourth grade, but if you don't mind checking out something for a younger reader they are very good. _

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Ken: _Not everyone might read on the same level as you DL._

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Dragon Lady: _Oh yeah…Wait a second! Was that a compliment or an insult?!_

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Ken: _Whichever way you want to take it._

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Dragon Lady: _Um…okay…Seriously though, all those authors are very good. Check 'em out! Now that I've put that out there…on to the fan fic!! Oh yeah…and yaoi people. _**Kensuke. **_Don't like? Don't read._

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**Magical Game**

By: DigimonDragonLady 

The Kaizer concentrated intently on the object in front of him, focusing all his being into it. His hands clenched the arm rests of his chair in an iron grip as sweat beaded on his forehead. His entire body was on edge, flooded with painful energy. Harnessing as much as he could he quickly tied the ends of his spell securely and slumped down into his seat.

He'd been attempting to make the power of the dark spiral greater with more of his magic, he just hoped that it would work this time. He'd used the strongest power spell he could find, but even the greatest spell seemed to weaken and bend when put to the test of the Chosen Children. He had been sure that the first one he had placed on MetalGreymon would last through their attempts, but somehow they had still managed to free him.

Ken consoled himself with the fact that the spiral _had_ withstood the attacks of Garurumon and his Chosen partner, but Augumon had still been released from his control. Not just somehow either, but…Daisuke Motomiya. 

The boy infuriated him with his boldness and undeniable beauty and charm. No matter what he did he could not manage to get around Motomiya. Ken couldn't deny though, how he loved the point in the battles when it came to a standoff between Daisuke and himself. Whenever he was close to him he felt…well it was indescribable. The Chosen Child of Courage just radiated with a stubborn goodness, and a desire to do what was right, no matter what the cost; and Ken admired him for it. But it angered him to be denied his victory time and time again by a boy with such temerity. 

And so another battle had been lost. With the help of his newest Digimental, the digi egg of Friendship, Daisuke had been able to armor digivolve his partner and return the once captive Augumon to the arms of his Chosen partner Taichi Kamiya. Ken found himself puzzling over the "digi eggs", as the Chosen Children referred to them.

The Digital World was helping the Chosen by providing them with new weapons to use against him. It was like changing the rules halfway through a game, and it irritated Ken to no end. He frowned thoughtfully. It seemed that the Digital World was attempting to counter act his use of magic by coming up with some of its own.

It was an interesting idea…Digital World magic. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed to Ken that the Digital World had a vast power source, a sort of magical tap, that it drew upon in times of need. Maybe, he thought, just maybe he could find a way to tap into that source as well. Then he could do much more with his magic, and the Digital World, in an attempt to destroy him, would actually be working for him. Ken chuckled at the thought. How deliciously ironic that would be. But first, he must discover how the world was aiding the Chosen Children; just _how_ was it providing them with ammunition?

In order to do this he would have to delve deeply into the past of the Digital World, probably back to the very beginning. Ken growled in irritation. But that would take a time displacement spell, to allow him to travel back so far, and that particular spell would require a vast amount of energy. Right that minute his energy levels were already stretched to the max, he was magically exhausted.

Ken sank back further into his chair. To be able to accomplish a time displacement he would need to replenish his energy levels, and unfortunately there was only one way to do this. Rest, and plenty of it. It also meant no magic. None, whatsoever. 

This spell was going to set him back considerably in the control war that he fought with the Chosen. He grumbled at the thought of loosing any of his conquered areas to them. It was simply an enormous chess game that had to carefully planned, the use of strategy; and most likely the player with the most pieces was the best and had greatest chance of winning the game. So where would that put him if he lost several important spires?

On the other hand…the information he so desired could be put to good use and could prove to be invaluable to his cause. Obtaining the information and correctly coming up with a way to pull power from the core of the Digital World itself would enable him to increase his rate of spire production and give time advantage over the Chosen and their respective partners. In other words, he would be able to fully conquer the Digital World in very little time. In that case…what was a few control spires?

The Kaizer sighed and spoke his thoughts aloud to himself. "Well…I suppose the time displacement spell it is. I could take down some of the minor defense mechanisms I've set up around my base in order to draw a little more power for this spell…which means I wouldn't have to rest as long…" He proceeded to make plans for his spell. 

Ken knew if he was lucky it might only take him three days to accomplish the initial energy and material gathering, there was much preparation to be done.

* * *

"What do you think Ken's up to now?" Miyako asked as they returned from the Digital World that day.

"What makes you think that Ken's "up to" anything?" Daisuke asked.

"Well think about how Ken operates. He comes up with a plan, we blow it for him, he runs off and formulates a bigger plan and comes up against us again to test this new thing out. Usually there's a space of about a week between his evil plans…so what's it gonna be this time?"

"Miyako's right," Takeru nodded. "The Digital World's been too quiet lately. Its all been too easy…that whole area freed without a sign of Ken or any extremely powerful digimon…"

"He must be planning something," Iori agreed sensibly.

"But…there's no way we can know what…" Hikari frowned thoughtfully.

"If Ken is planning something we'll never be able to figure it out, that's why he's the genius and we're not," Daisuke pointed out. "We just have to be on our guard and wait until whatever it is hits us," he declared.

"I don't think I like the sound of that strategy _leader_," Miyako glared at him.

"Well there's not much we can do about it Miyako!" Daisuke defended himself.

"As much as I hate to admit it…I think Daisuke's right…" Takeru sighed. "There's nothing we can do but wait for Ken to make the first move."

A rather ominous silence filled the computer room, as the fear of the unknown filled their minds. It was broken by Hikari. "Its late now, we should all be getting home…"

Nothing more was said. Daisuke stood and watched as the other Chosen filed out of the room. His partner, Chibimon, squirmed uncomfortably in his arms and looked up at him. "Whatcha thinking about Daisuke?" he squeaked.

"Hhmm?" Daisuke looked down at him. "Oh nothing…I was just trying to decide what I should do about Ken…"

"Why do _you_ have to do anything about Ken?" Chibimon asked. "All the Chosen Children will defeat him soon, and then everything will be fine and Kaizer free."

"I wish I could share your optimism Chibimon," Daisuke sighed. "I really do…But I think Ken's getting even more powerful…and its getting to the point where I'm not sure if the other Chosen can handle it without my stepping forward and taking a hand in it…"

"Why don't you just tell the Chosen what you are?"

"Its not that simple Chibimon!" Daisuke shook his head. "There are rules about that kind of thing. We never reveal ourselves to outsiders or set ourselves apart as more than just ordinary mortals unless its absolutely necessary. Even Ken realizes that, and he's the Digimon Emperor and not directly descended from a magical family line!"

"Don't you think that the situation here counts as "necessary" Daisuke?"

Daisuke sighed again. "Not yet…but I have a feeling it soon might be…"

* * *

Daisuke lay on his bed starring at his ceiling. He'd been that way for over an hour now…simply letting his thoughts chase themselves in endless, unintelligible circles around his head. Chibimon was lying beside him. As they lay there together there came a soft knock on the door, and it peeked open. Daisuke looked at Jun as she stuck her head in the door.

"Hi little bro…. Can I come in?"

Daisuke sat up against his pillows and shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Jun came in and closed the door behind her. She crossed the room and came and sat on the end of the bed. Chibimon jumped up and bounded happily into the elder Motomiya's lap. "Hey there Chibi," she greeted him and scratched him behind the ears. Daisuke smiled at the sight; if Chibimon had been a cat, he would have been purring.

"Hey Daisuke…what's wrong?"

Daisuke blinked. "What makes you think anything's wrong?" he asked. Then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Had she been…

Jun caught the suspicious look and put on a hurt look for his benefit. "No I have not been reading your mind without your permission. How could you even think such a thing of me Daisuke? I just know you too well, when you mope constantly for days on end it tends to be a big sign. And what kind of sister would I be if I didn't even know when you were upset?"

Daisuke sighed. "Sorry, but I didn't think you'd noticed anything. I mean you've been so busy with training your powers lately I thought you didn't have any time for me."

"Never!" Jun appeared horrified. "I'll always have time for you Daisuke. Don't ever hesitate to come to me when you have a problem okay?" Daisuke nodded. "So then, what's bothering you brother? I bet it has something to do with the Digital World…"

Daisuke rolled his eyes and attempted a weak grin. "When does it not?"

Jun smiled. When Daisuke was chosen to protect the Digital World the Motomiya's had regarded it as an enormous honor for their family. It was something that pointed out that their son was special beyond other enchanters at such a young age. The only other enchanter that had enjoyed the honor had been Yamato when he was taken to the Digital World. 

"So what is it this time?" Daisuke opened his mouth to speak out his problems, but Jun interrupted him. "You know…it would be easier if you just let me read the thoughts from your head. Quicker too…"

"No way!" Daisuke shook his head. "You're too good at reading minds Jun. You can read the emotions that go with the thoughts and I don't want you to know everything that's running around in my brain. Some things happen to be personal and confidential!"

Jun pouted. "You know you always end up telling me those things anyway."

"That may be," Daisuke responded. "But I'll do it my way thank you."

"Oh all right, have it your way."

"Its Ken…"

Jun's eyes lit up as soon as the name passed Daisuke's lips. Ken fascinated her. She could hardly imagine a sorcerer who went into the Digital World and would rather harm it than help. "More about our favorite little psychopath? Do tell!"

"He's getting stronger Jun…the Digital World gave me a new Digimental. Ken's come up with this new kind of dark ring…a dark spiral he called it. He's putting more and more of his magic into everyone that he makes. And this time he managed to take control of a Chosen digimon."

Jun gasped. "Who's?!"

"Taichi's digimon Augumon."

"That's not good…"

"I know…Augumon couldn't fight it at all." Daisuke frowned. "But I'm worried about Ken…he's using too much of his magic on this…he could be on the verge of a power burnout. I think if he continues using his magic this way I might have to step in…"

Jun blinked. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"I don't know…" he shook his head. "But I know I won't allow Ken to be hurt. Least of all by himself."

Jun gave him a sly look as she picked up on some of his emotion. It was genuine, true concern, and lots of it. "What was that snippet of emotion you just couldn't dampen down there Dai?" 

Daisuke blushed. "Nothing! I'm just concerned about him that's all! He is a Chosen Child after all, and while I have to protect my friends from Ken, at the same time I have to protect Ken from my friends."

"As well as himself," Jun pointed out.

"Yeah…"

"Does he have any idea of his potential power?" she asked curiously.

"I don't think so," Daisuke replied. "Right now he's only functioning on an ordinary wizard level. He hasn't grasped his enchanters magic yet."

"Wizarding level? That's all?!" Jun was appalled. No wonder Daisuke was so deeply concerned. If Daisuke was right and wizard was as high as he was going with his magic then he could burnout. Jun had been impressed that Ken had even discovered his magic after all. He wasn't descended from a magical family, so even the fact that he had knowledge about his power was something in itself…but even he should realize how foolish it was to use so much energy!

"That's why I'm worried about a possible burnout Jun!" Daisuke could pick up the stressed vibes that Jun was sending out, and that was unusual because he wasn't as sensitive to emotion as his sister was in her power, nor was Jun the type of person that radiated her emotions, so she must have been truly distressed. 

"If he continues to go so deeply into his magic on such a low level he might even begin to use some of his life force energy! So you see…I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here."

Jun nodded sympathetically and her distress only grew.

"On one hand I could let Ken continue until it comes down to his death…which would mean that I'd failed to protect a Chosen Child…or I could teach him the enchanter magic that he's capable of and he could turn on me and use it against us. Of course I could always revel myself to all the Chosen Children in order to defeat him…but that would mean breaking a very important rule…"

"That rule is only for our protection Daisuke…" Jun reminded him. "But it would still be in your best interest to keep your secret if at all possible. What do you think is your best choice?"

Daisuke surprised Jun by moaning and putting his face in his hands. "I don't think that I could do anything that would mean loosing Ken…"

Jun's eyes widened. "Okay there was more than just concern in that wave of emotions Dai! What are you still keeping to yourself?! It might be a very important fact into making a decision Daisuke…"

"I…" Daisuke looked up at her. "I think he's my soul mate…"

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Ken: _Okay_ *that* _was cruel beyond belief!_

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Dragon Lady: _What?_

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Ken: _Leaving the first chapter in a cliff hanger like that!_

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Dragon Lady: ***blinks innocently* **_Ohhhhh….did I leave it in a cliff hanger? _

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Ken: _Stop playing innocent, you're anything but! And yes, you did!_

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Dragon Lady: _Well…I figured that maybe if people didn't like this story of mine I'd only put out one chapter and then they wouldn't have to worry about my continuing it if they didn't like it. _***shrugs***

Ken: _You can't be serious?!!!_

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Dragon Lady: _Why not?_

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Ken: _Because you can't not continue a story!!! You just can't! You wouldn't dare!_

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Dragon Lady: _Maybe…or maybe not._

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Ken: _That isn't funny DL! Stories aren't something to joke around with!!_

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Dragon Lady: _If you like it, review. If not…well I'll know not to write something like this again. And if you do like it and find something that confuses you let me know and I'll see if I can try and clear it up in the second chapter, if you want one that is…_

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Ken: _You're joking! _***silence* **_You are joking aren't you? _***more silence*** _Aren't you?!!_


	2. Chapter Two

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Dragon Lady: _Hi!!!_ ***waves happily***

Ken: _Yes!! You decided to update this story!_

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Dragon Lady: _Yes I did! I got enough positive reviews in my opinion._

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Ken: _Good. Because if you had decided to forget this story even existed I was going to have to hurt you, because you left the thing in a damn cliff hanger._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;** _yeah…sorry about that. I loathe cliff hangers when I'm reading, but at the same time, being an author myself I love it when I can do the same thing. Its refreshing to know that I hold the audience in my power when they're reading my fic. _**^_^**

Ken: _Power corrupts you know._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;**

Ken: _Well lets not make this a long muse chat! It was a cliff hanger, lets get on with the fic already! _***crosses arms impatiently***

Dragon Lady: _All right…all right. _***rolls eyes* ^_^ **_Its still _**Kensuke **_people, so be warned. If you don't like that couple and you're reading it anyway don't flame me because its your own stupid fault. _**^^;** _Sorry…just had to say that. Of course this is chapter two…non Kensuke fans (how could anyone not be a Kensuke fan?) should know that by now…_

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Ken: _DigimonDragonLady does not own digimon…by the way. Just thought I'd throw that out there…By the way…try and ignore dl's pathetic "spell" in this…She only got the words by writing some stupid verse and turning the words around backwards…_

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Dragon Lady: **-_-;** _Anyways…on with the fic!_

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**Magical Game**

By: DigimonDragonLady

"No way!" Jun exploded. Daisuke just gave her a miserable look. 

Jun wasn't sure if she should laugh in excitement and jump around the room in joy, or burst into tears. It was a wonderful thing…to find ones soul mate, but the position that Daisuke was in…

Daisuke only sighed when his sister sat there dumbly, not knowing quite how to react. Jun seemed to remember then that he was looking for some kind of encouragement. "Well there's not a chance in hell that I'm going to let my little brother loose his soul mate! We'll think of something Daisuke! If it comes down to Ken's life or your secret from the Chosen don't you hesitate to expose your magic, understand me?!"

Daisuke only nodded miserably. "I guess…"

* * *

"I'm almost finished…" Ken smiled. "This is going to be extremely beneficial to my rein…I can tell. When I gather the information I seek and turn the Digital World's protective magic to my advantage I will become unstoppable, and the Chosen Children will be finished!" His dark laughter rang through his base, sending shivers down the digimon's spines.

"Master…?"

Ken stopped laughing immediately. "What?!" he snarled. 

"What are you doing Master? Can…can I help you?"

"You?" Ken sneered as he whirled to face the rookie digimon who had the nerve to enter his room. "You help with this project? Don't make me laugh!" The digimon cringed backwards at his master's tone. "Digimon know nothing of magic! Don't waste my valuable time Wormmon!"

"Yes Master!" the digimon yelped out and apology and beat a hasty retreat from the Kaizer's presence. 

Ken only scowled. Why was it that genius was always surrounded by stupidity? If anyone reminded Ken of how much this was true, it was Wormmon. He sighed and turned back to his work. His energy level was full enough for his intent…the project was nearing completion…  


* * *

The Chosen Children were trekking through the Digital World looking for spires to destroy. They were all laughing and talking amongst themselves…well, everyone but Daisuke that is. It seemed that because of the ease of the past few days work they had completely forgotten about the serious threat the Digimon Kaizer posed. 

Daisuke was nervous. The Digital World was too quiet. There was an oppressive silence hanging in the air. He wondered if he was the only one that felt it. To Daisuke it seemed as if the only sound to be heard for miles was the noise the Chosen Children themselves were making. 

He used a little of his magic to send his senses as far as he could ahead of them in an attempt to locate any danger before it came upon them. But he didn't want to use too much, because the Digital World taxed his magical energy, and even though he was a very powerful enchanter it would exhaust him quickly.

Then Daisuke hit upon a huge spot of power. There was something there, but when he let his eyes slide over the area it appeared to be only a quiet clearing in the middle of the forest. He was trying to discover just what it was that made him so uneasy about it when the Chosen deemed it a good time to get his attention. He had only left a small amount of his senses behind him and obviously not enough of his hearing…but that was one of the most important things he needed right that second.

"Daisuke…Daisuke…" Iori was attempting to get his friends attention, but he appeared to be completely out of it.

"No, no Iori," Miyako shook her head. "That's not how you should go about getting Daisuke to listen to you." She took a deep breath and shouted in the boys ear. "DAISUKE!"

Daisuke jumped in surprise and looked like he'd just had a heart attack. He was breathing heavily with a hand over his heart. "What the hell was that for?!" he demanded of them. Miyako, little did she know, could have just killed him. 

He had gone much too deeply into his magic and just then he had run the risk of separating his soul from his body when his conscious mind had been snapped back too quickly to the source of his power. A body can't live without the soul. Daisuke would have died instantly, but it seemed that luck had been on his side that time.

Daisuke had stopped walking. A shudder passed through his body when he thought about what it would have felt to have his soul torn from him. The Chosen couldn't help but notice how pale he had become. 

"Daisuke? What's wrong with you?" Hikari asked in concern.

Daisuke's eyes grew wide as he identified the unexpected power source he had ventured across in the forest clearing only moments before being pulled back. It was a strong hiding spell with a lot more power radiating through it, caused by whatever it was there to hide.

"Damn," he hissed. "You moron!"

"I beg your pardon…" Miyako began angrily when she thought Daisuke was referring to her, but it soon became clear that he wasn't.

"What the hell does he think he's doing using all that power?! He is going to get himself killed!"

Daisuke took off running as fast as he could and the Chosen starred after him. Veemon looked at the other children, shrugged in confusion, and bounded off after his partner. "What is with that boy today?" Miyako shook her head in wonder.

"I don't know…but might I suggest that we follow him and find out what the moron is doing to get himself killed?" Takeru suggested.

"I agree," Iori nodded, and so the Chosen began running in the direction that Daisuke and Veemon had gone.

* * *

Daisuke stopped running when he came upon Ken's magic shield. This was it. He had to decide right now what he was going to do. It was too much too hope that the others wouldn't follow him…and he heard them approaching that moment. Veemon was at his side. The very air around him seemed to quiver with anticipation of what would come next.

Here. Right now Daisuke, the wind seemed to whisper. He could walk away and leave to boy, whom he was sure was his soul mate, to certain death, or he could break one of the biggest unspoken rules of the magical people. He trembled and tried to look away from the shield. 

He clenched his hands into tight fists at his side, closing his eyes and forcing his head to look away. His whole body stiffened in place when he tried to take an experimental step backwards, and he was forced to open his eyes once more as he let his body relax once more.

Jun's words rang through his head. _'If it comes down to Ken's life or your secret from the Chosen, don't you hesitate to expose your magic, understand me?'_ Daisuke knew that his heart was not going to allow him to forsake his soul mate.

He placed a hand on Ken's magic shield, making it visible to the other Chosen as well as himself. He was amused by the color of Ken's magic. Pink. The feared digimon Kaizer had pink magic? He smiled. If the color of Ken's magic was not corrupted with darkness maybe that meant that it was not too late to save his lover's soul.

"What is that thing?!" 

"Its enormous…"

Daisuke was halfway aware of the whisperings of Miyako and his friends and he could feel their eyes on him with every movement he made. But he didn't have time to worry about what they were thinking about all this. He had a soul mate to save. 

The guardian of Courage and Friendship took a deep, calming breath. In a loud, seemingly unruffled voice he called out his name of power; a word so powerful that it made full grown enchanters, wizards and all magic people tremble when they were made to use it, especially in front of ordinary mortals, for it gave another person power over you to know it. 

Because the name is the thing, and the true name is the true thing. To speak the name is to control the thing. The rule had been drilled into Daisuke's since childhood, it was the rule of the wizarding society. They lived with names that could destroy them. Never, he had been told, let anyone else discover your true name, for fear of death or worse. 

But his name was powerful and it easily shattered Ken's seemingly impressive shield into miniscule magical pieces.

* * *

The Kaizer stared at Daisuke and the other Chosen Children in open mouthed shock and confusion. "How…how the…"

Daisuke took a quick step forward. "Stop Ken, don't use your magic now please!"

Ken blinked but attempted recompose himself. "What do _you_ know of my magic Chosen? And what I do is none of your concern," he declared coldly, his eyes sweeping over Daisuke in contempt. "This world and everything in it belongs to me, I can do as I want."

"Please Ken, listen to me! Whatever spell you're about to use, don't! Its taking too much of your energy! You'll burnout. Or worse! You cold start using up your life force energy, then you'll die!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Ken snapped.

Daisuke muttered under his breath and risked sending his mind out once more. He cautiously probed Ken's own mind with his powers, trying not to alert the other boy of what he was doing…he wasn't the best at reading thoughts, that was Jun's specialty really, then again Ken probably wouldn't understand what was happening even if he halfway felt Daisuke's presence. He had probably never felt the mental touch of another enchanter, so Daisuke was pretty sure he was safe in what he was doing. 

When he found he information he wanted he pulled back quickly. "Time displacement?!" he gasped. "Time displacement?!! You can't do that! You'll die for sure!"

"As I said before I will do as I please, and I'd just love to see you _try_ and get in my way Motomiya," Ken sneered. He stared straight into Daisuke's eyes with his own indigo ones, he slowly raised his hands, making sure to keep full eye contact with Daisuke so that the boy knew exactly what he was doing.

Panic welled up in Daisuke's heart. This couldn't happen, not to Ken. It just _couldn't_! What could he do? What could he do?!! He couldn't just stand by and allow his soul mates destruction. He had to stop him somehow…

As Ken began to speak a small wind stirred around his feet and grew stronger with every word spoken. The cape of the Digimon Kaizer billowed out behind him as he set the spell in effect, never taking his eyes off Daisuke.

"_Cigam secrof neddih peed…_" Ken chanted softly, but soon his voice rose as his power slowly built.

"_Noooooo_! Ken!" Daisuke yelled in anguish. It was too late to stop him now, once the spell had been started. Even if he pulled him out of it Ken would still die, because the power had been called and released. It was sealed the moment Ken had spoken the first word. Daisuke's mind was screaming at him to help Ken. And he reacted without pausing for a second, for time was precious, to consider what he was doing. There was no time for uncertainty. Daisuke only had one chance left…

He threw all the magic he could gather on such short notice into the spell along side Ken's in a feudal, desperate attempt to get the spell Ken had started to draw on his own magic as well. He didn't stop to think about his own life. He didn't remember more than just his own life, and Ken's life was at stake. All he thought about was maybe…if he could do this, it would save Ken…

As the power and wind built Daisuke's voice rose above the howl with Ken's, forcing out the last words of the spell the Kaizer had begun. "_…wohs em eht sterces taht uoy peek!_" 

For maybe two agonizing minutes Daisuke's body burned with an intense, excruciating pain. Liquid fire rushed through his veins, filling him with an unbearable heat. Even for a powerful enchanter his was too much to take…

Daisuke screamed. It felt as if he were being burned to death from the inside out. All of the most painful tortures in human existence ever inflicted upon a living soul combined would not equal what Daisuke was feeling then. The only thing that was in his mind was the pain. So great was his agony that he couldn't even register the pain filled screams of five other Chosen Children.

Then multicolored spots began to dance before his eyes as the world around him slowly faded from light to dark. _'I've failed,' _was the last thing he thought. _'I was wrong, and now I've killed us all…' _And then, his world went completely black. 

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Ken: _Damn it all DL you did it again!!! And it was shorter too!!!_

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Dragon Lady: ***wails* **_I know I did, and it was!! I'm so sorry! Please, please, please don't hate me!! I can't help it! This story is writing itself…I don't know that I have any control over it anymore!! _

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Ken: **Oo.**

Dragon Lady: _I'm sorry! _

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Ken: _You'd just better come out with the third chapter soon._

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Dragon Lady: ***stops wailing* **_What third chapter?_ ***blinks***

Ken: _What do you mean "what third chapter"?! The third chapter I know you're going to be writing if you want to live a long, harm free life!!!! _***glares at authoress***

Dragon Lady: ***gulps at murderous look in muse's eyes* **_hehehe…Ohhhhh yeah …*that* third chapter…_**^^;**

Ken: **-_-;**

Dragon Lady: **^_~ **_I'll have it out ASAP peoples._

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Ken: _Somebody has had waaaaay too much sugar…_

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Dragon Lady: _SUGAR!!!!!!! _***giggles* ^^;;**

Ken: _Um…right…I think its time for us to go now while, you still regard this girl as mentally stable…_

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Dragon Lady: ***being dragged away from computer by muse* **

Ken: _Have a nice day._

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Dragon Lady: _Read and Review pretty please!!!!! And I'm perfectly stable! Don't let Ken fool you. I'm only insane by association. _**^_~**


	3. Chapter Three

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Ken: _This one's a little bit longer, isn't it? _

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Dragon Lady: ***nods* **_I think so. Maybe people will be a little bit happier about that…_**^^;;**

Ken: _Yeah…maybe._

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Dragon Lady: _Anyway…I worked really hard to put this out as soon as possible…_

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Ken: _Because Dl's not sure when the next time she can update this story is…_

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Dragon Lady: _Um yeah…I might be grounded kind of soon…_**^^;;; **_So…yeah. I worked hard to put this out, anyways._

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Ken: _Warning. _**Kensuke**_, and more of Dl's stupid spells._

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Dragon Lady: _Oh come on, they're not really _*that* _bad…are they?_

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Ken: _…_

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** Magical Game**

By: DigimonDragonLady

Daisuke was coming to slowly. At least…he thought he was. He could have sworn that he'd just opened his eyes, but he could still only see black. He couldn't tell if he was awake, or still asleep. Wherever they were was pitch black and you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face to know if you were moving it!

"Am I…is this what death feels like…?" a hesitant voice chimed out.

Daisuke blinked. Well…he was pretty sure he blinked. That had been exactly what he had been thinking himself. That this was death. "Hikari?" he asked.

"Daisuke!!" Hikari sounded very relieved to hear his voice. "Is that really you?!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm me. Are you all right Hikari?"

"Yes…" she answered, sounding very unsure of herself. "Unless I'm really dead…and then, I guess not…"

Just then Daisuke began to hear other voices joining theirs.

"What is this place?"

"Are we still alive?"

"Why is it so dark?" 

And finally, "What the hell happened here?!"

"Ken?" Daisuke's heart leapt up. "Ken!!!"

"Of course," he growled back. "Who did you think it was, the Easter Bunny?" he sneered. "And did I say you could call me Ken?"

Daisuke ignored that. "All right Ken, whatever. Just keep talking and maybe I can find you…" he tried moving slowly. He wasn't even sure if he was standing on solid ground.

"You're going to try moving in all this darkness?" Ken asked in shock. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Of course," Daisuke answered cheerfully. "I'll just follow the sound of your voice. After all, we're all going to have to move sometime, otherwise we're going to be here…wherever here is…for a long time, right?" he pointed out. "Try and see if you can move to me too."

"I…I can't."

"Why not?" Daisuke asked. He turned towards where Ken's voice seemed to be coming from.

"I…" Was that a quaver of fear that he'd just heard? "You might be crazy enough to move, Motomiya," he replied airily. "But I'm staying right where I am."

Daisuke managed to look past the words and see the real reason. 'Ken's…scared?' He was surprised for a minute, but then again, on second thought, it wasn't strange at all. 'Ken would be scared, he doesn't have any idea what he's done. Come to think of it…neither do I…but right now just as long as Ken's alive, nothing else matters…' If this was even alive. 'Maybe together, we can reverse whatever happened to this spell…'

"It's okay Ken, don't move then. I think, I think I'm almost there."

The other Chosen Children were holding their tongues during the entire conversation between Ken and Daisuke. Maybe they realized that their only hope of returning home, lay with The Chosen Child of Courage and friendship, and the Digimon Kaizer. If getting home was possible for even two enchanters.

While lost in thought he bumped into someone…Ken? And they both nearly stumbled and fell. "Oh sorry! Ken, right? Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"That's good. Take my hand okay? We'll bee fine, I'll protect you Ken."

"I don't need you, of all people, to protect me, Daisuke Motomiya," Ken replied scornfully. Never the less they both fumbled for each other's hands. Daisuke could feel Ken trembling, and he squeezed his hand reassuringly. Nothing would happen to his soul mate. He'd make sure of that.

* * *

"How is everyone else?" Daisuke asked, making sure not to release Ken's hand. The voices of the remaining Chosen Children rang out through the dark.

"I'm all right." 

"Fine here."

"Same for me."

"I'm good."

"Well, I think it would be a good idea for everyone to have a partner…" Daisuke grinned wickedly to himself. "Iori? Takeru? Where are you two?"

"Over here," answered two voices at once, and Daisuke struggled to discern their locations.

"Sounds like you two are the closest. Do you think you can get together somehow?"

"I can try," Takeru answered.

"I think so," Iori responded.

"Good," Daisuke nodded, even though no one could see him, it was a habit. "Hikari? Miyako?"

"Here, Daisuke," their voices rang out.

"It seems to me that you two are farther apart…but I want to ask you to do the same," he frowned. "Miyako? Do you think you can make it to Hikari?"

"Yeah sure, no problem," Miyako said quickly. "Don't worry Hikari, I can find you."

"Okay…" Hikari agreed, but she sounded a little unsure.

Daisuke waited patiently as his four team mates struggled to find each other in the pitch black darkness. "All right, Iori and I are okay," Takeru called out.

"Gotcha, Hikari," Miyako's voice rang out.

"Okay, obviously we're going to have to formulate some sort of a plan…" Daisuke murmured. "Light would be good." It was times like this he wished he had Jun to help him in the Digital World. "But any magic that's done inside a spell cast by Ken and myself is going to have to come from both of us together…" he frowned over this. Ken just wasn't as experienced as he was; not that it was his fault, he hadn't had anyone to teach him how. "Do you know any simple light spells Ken?" he asked.

"Um…fire spells…" Ken murmured.

Daisuke sighed. That's what he had been afraid of. Most in-training wizards could very quickly gasp the concept of fire, and most of them didn't go much farther if they didn't have a teacher to help them. While it might seem like fire was extremely difficult to an in-training wizard, it was really one of the most simple spells to call upon. 

"No good." He could tell Ken was depressed by this statement. "Hey, no problem, Ken!" he told him with an only slightly forced cheerful optimism. "We'll figure something out, don't you worry."

Ken muttered something about not being worried, but his voice didn't hold the conviction it previously had. Daisuke slipped his free arm around Ken's waist and pulled the Kaizer tightly to him, but he didn't release his hold when he felt Ken stiffen in surprise, only held him closer, and comfortingly.

"I will figure this out Ken, I promise you that. Just trust me all right?" he whispered the words.

Ken relaxed against him a little. "I do trust you Daisuke…" he murmured softly, so that Daisuke was sure only he could hear it. "I don't know why exactly, but I do."

Daisuke smiled a little. And then he got an idea. Even if Ken wasn't aware of his enchanter power, he should be able to do such a small basic spell…it was one of the first he should have had the easiest time picking up on…a useful one too. "Do you know a calling spell, Ken?" he asked on this sudden inspiration.

"Just a basic calling? Of course I do." Ken's voice held that "don't insult my intelligence" tone again and Daisuke was tempted to laugh, but he refrained.

"Good. Then we can call for light," he said.

"Just like that?!" Ken was appalled by how easy Daisuke thought this would be.

"Just like that," Daisuke answered firmly. "With my enchanters magic I don't think it will be all that difficult…"

"But…you don't know what light source the spell with provide us! It could be dangerous!"

"What did I say about trusting me Ken?" Daisuke smiled confidently. "Besides, if we're in any world in existence I have a pretty good idea about what the spell will provide."

There was a brief silence as Ken thought this statement over, and then, "The sun?! You think our spell is going to call the sun?!"

"Worth a try isn't it?" Daisuke responded, unperturbed. 

"And what if we're not on any world?" Ken asked. "What if we're between?"

"Well, then we'll work with that knowledge. At least we'll be knowing something then right? So are you going to help me or not?"

"I really don't have much of a choice, now do I?" Ken sighed. 

"I'm not going to do anything that I think could get any of us hurt Ken, you know that. As an enchanter sworn to the Digital World it is my duty to defend it, and all of the Chosen Children, against any and all dangers."

"Right, right," Ken grumbled. "So how are we going to do this?"

Daisuke was quiet, in thoughtful silence for a minute. It wasn't going to be easy, working with Ken on the spells. Partner wizards weren't uncommon, but they had to know each other and their partner's style very well before they could even begin to accomplish a spell together. Daisuke was really, extremely lucky that he hadn't killed himself and everyone else when he threw his power into Ken's spell. He still didn't understand why it had brought the rest of the Chosen along…but sometimes you never completely understood magic. 

Partner wizards, or any other level of magic using people, had to be perfectly in sync with their other from the very first word. They had to be in tune with one another. No mistakes, no one person going faster than the other. It was going to be difficult.

Daisuke and Ken both wisely realized that they didn't know each others magic well enough to partner a spell, but any magic inside the first spell, that had been a miraculous partner spell effort, had to come from both of them together. Daisuke could only think of one way and that would be to use their soul-mateship to their advantage, but…was Ken ready for that?

"We could mind merge. That's the only way I can think of…" Daisuke answered slowly, and reluctantly. 

"Mind merge?" Ken asked curiously. "I wasn't' aware that magic people could do that…I guess I don't know as much as you do…"

"Oh not normal wizarding partners," Daisuke answered. "Only one special kind of pair is able to pull it off without killing themselves or going insane." Daisuke could sense the confusion coming from Ken, and the other Chosen Children, of course, were completely lost. "I can explain it later Ken…if the merge itself doesn't…" Daisuke assured him.

"What do I have to do?" Ken asked.

"Don't think about it," Daisuke said softly. "Listen to your heart. That's all that matters. Don't pay any attention to what your mind tells you. Thoughts can be deceiving. Just listen to your heart, and follow me."

* * *

Daisuke could feel the deepest power of their hearts flowing and melting together. He could hear his heart beating in his ears…or wait…was that Ken's heart? There was a strange jolt, not painful, but not completely pleasant; aside from the fact that Daisuke felt…whole. Like he had been missing some important aspect of himself for his entire life until that point. He also felt very open. Any secrets that he held wouldn't be secrets to Ken. 

__

**~**Daisuke?**~ **

A hesitant voice rang through his thoughts. Daisuke started. Even though he had somewhat known to expect it, hearing Ken's voice inside his head had surprised him. **_~_**Its all right Ken. See? Our spell will be easier this way.**~**

**_~_**Okay…**~ **

Daisuke could see many things about Ken that he normally hid about himself, not that the Kaizer had ever been open with the Chosen before, but Daisuke could tell that Ken tried hard to forget these things himself. Hidden thoughts, feelings, emotions and memories not his own echoed like ghosts through his head. And Daisuke knew that Ken could see the same things about himself when he spoke to him.

**_~_**Is it always going to feel like this Daisuke?**~ **he asked.

**_~_**I don't know…**~** Daisuke answered. **_~_**This is something that can only happen between us Ken.**~** Daisuke told him gently. **_~_**Do you understand why?**~**

**_~_**…Yes…**~ **And then, **_~_**Thank you, Daisuke. For risking your life to save me…**~**

**_~_**You're welcome Ken.**~ **Daisuke gave his hand a small squeeze. **_~_**To me, you are worth any risk. Are you ready for this? The others are waiting on us.**~**

A spell appeared in Daisuke's head with a small questioning feel attached to the end of it. **_~_**Is this right?**~**

Daisuke smiled as he looked it over. **_~_**Very good.**~**

Without another word, they both began to speak the spell aloud, focusing their thoughts, and minds, and hearts as one to complete it. Ken was a little hesitant at first, but at Daisuke's gentle, mental encouragement his, his voice gradually rose in certainty and volume.

And their voices seemed to fill every inch of the surrounding darkness with the sound, smell, feel, and even taste of raw and powerful magic. "Taht fo rednow gninrub thgirb, llif ruo dlrow htiw ruoy thgil."

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Ken: _And yes dl, the spells are pretty stupid._

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Dragon Lady: ***blushes* **_Sorry…_

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Ken: _And it was another cliff hanger…so now when you're grounded for weeks people are going to be extremely peeved at you._ **_**

Dragon Lady: _Sorry!!! I'll do my best to shy away from restriction…but I think its pretty unavoidable at this point…_**-_-;; *sighs***

Ken: _Meanwhile, your grades _AND _your fan fiction is suffering._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;** _Well only some grades are suffering…_***grumbles about geometry class* **_The rest are pretty good…unfortunately its Geometry that my mother is concerned about…_**-_-;;;**

Ken: _Of course._ ***is sarcastic* **_Why I wonder, would she be worried about your grade in such a pathetic, useless subject as Geometry? I mean, where is math going to get you in life?_

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Dragon Lady: ***irritably* **_Oh shut up genius boy. _**_** _Anywho…I suppose if I'm grounded from my home computer I can use the one at school…I'll see what I can do. _**^^;;; **

Ken: ***tiredly* **_Review please._


	4. Chapter Four

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Dragon Lady: _Here's Chapter Four. Oh go me. _**^_^**

Ken: _Uh huh. _

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Dragon Lady: _I'm not doing such incredibly long muse rants anymore…hmm…wonder what's wrong with me…_

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Ken: _Maybe because you've realized that no one actually pays attention to them?_

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Dragon Lady: _…I read disclaimers…_

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Ken: _Sometimes._

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Dragon Lady: _Anyways… fourth part. It sounds terribly, terribly confusing to me…Hopefully the fifth part will explain more…If there's any one thing that threw you off, could you let me know, and maybe I could fix it._

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Ken: _This one is spell free. Except for the two that are taking effect. You don't have to worry about dl's insane spells._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;** _Read. And enjoy…if you want to that is…_

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Magical Game

By: DigimonDragonLady

At first nothing happened, and Daisuke's heart sank. He had been so sure…he'd been counting on that spell. But then, as they continued to watch, for hope of something…anything at all…a thousand bright points of light filled the…sky…? Twinkling and glowing high above them.

"Stars…" Daisuke whispered.

Then all of the tiny dots of light began to lighten and the curtain of sky around them began to fade from the inky black that they had grown accustomed to, to gray, then to pale lavender. Then the stars began to disappear, melting into the background of the sky with each passing moment. It was also becoming very apparent that they were standing on solid ground.

A smile tugged at the corners of Daisuke's lips as a bright orange orb began to peek over the horizon. It painted the sky in glorious yellows and pinks, and brushed each cottony cloud with its color, magnifying the already beauteous sight ten fold.

"It's so beautiful," Hikari murmured.

"We…we did it…" Ken breathed softly, feeling the same incredible awe that the others were. 

"Of course we did," Daisuke put a hand on his shoulder. He smiled brightly, and Ken smiled back.

There was a calm silence as each gazed upon the new world that had appeared around them. It was broken, reluctantly, by Iori when he asked, "Is there any way of finding out what world we're on…?"

Ken looked questioningly at Daisuke. **_~_**Is there?**~**

**_~_**Yes…**~** Daisuke admitted slowly. **_~_**But its not on your level, Ken.**~** Daisuke could feel Ken's irritation and frustration, which was rapidly changing into anger. He'd never experienced anyone's emotions as clearly as he did Ken's…soul mates certainly were tricky…he wondered briefly if this was what Jun felt around everyone twenty-four seven. **_~_**Hey, don't be angry…**~** he soothed him. **_~_**I'll teach you later Ken, but there's no way that we'll be able to do this together now.**~**

**_~_**You'll teach me…?**~**

**_~_**Of course,**~** Daisuke responded lightly. This whole conversation took less than a second in their linked minds. Out loud Daisuke answered Iori. "We're now free to explore to our hearts content."

"Oh that's just great!" Miyako howled.

Daisuke sighed in exasperation. "I'm incredibly sorry to have inconvenienced you Miyako, but I didn't tell you to follow me when I went off in search of Ken, you know."

"Well we didn't know what kind of a mess you'd be getting us into," Miyako responded sniffily. "And honestly Daisuke, what else could we do? We have to at least try and keep you from doing stupid things…"

Daisuke scowled. "Stupid things?! For your information…" he began.

**_~_**Um…Daisuke**~** Ken sounded troubled by something.

**_~_**What is it Ken?**~** Daisuke asked, turning his attention quickly away from Miyako.

"Is the spell…is it supposed to be over, or should it still be going?" Ken asked.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Daisuke looked confused. "The spell was over when the sun came up," he frowned.

"Well, um…"

Daisuke followed Ken's gaze and his eyes widened in surprise. The ground they had been standing on had previously been rocky and a dull brown dirt color as far as the eye could see, which hadn't been much better than the black, except for the fact that they could actually see it. But now…all around them the presumably "dead" world was erupting into life, in every form imaginable. Fields of grass appeared and grew high, trees rose from the earth and in a seconds time grew to enormous sizes, stretching themselves towards the sky, and flowers bloomed from nothingness before their eyes.

"What's happen?!" Takeru asked in a panic, though partially awed by this new turn of events.

"I…don't…know…" Daisuke responded. "What…what on earth did we say in that spell?!!"

Ken nervously passed him the spell again. Daisuke once more looked it over, and gasped as a revelation came to him. "Oh my god…" he whispered.

**_~_**What?**~** Ken asked him. ~What is it Daisuke?~

**_~_**We…we…oh God…**~ **Daisuke could barely thought speak straight.

**_~_**…**~** Ken patiently waited fro Daisuke to pull himself together long enough to speak to him properly. 

When he could project clearly, Daisuke sent Ken every bit of history he had ever learned from his sister, and parents, and other wizards about their magical history. He had always been particularly interested in the first wizards, and had always begged for stories about them when he was younger. So he showed Ken their heritage, what exactly Ken's first spell had been created to do, and what they had just done in this new combined spell; along with large amounts of shock and disbelief tied in there emotion wise.

Ken rocked back. "We did what?!" he chocked out.

"I know…" Daisuke echoed his partners amazement. "But…all the proof is here…in the spells. Its got to be…"

"Its got to be what?" Miyako asked in confusion.

"We started the magic," Daisuke whispered. "We created my world…"

* * *

"You did what?" Iori frowned. Obviously this didn't mean as much to the other Chosen Children as it did to Ken and Daisuke. "I don't understand…"

"Its very complicated," Daisuke said. "I can try to explain, and I apologize before hand if I confuse you even more with my explanation…" he smiled slightly at Ken.

"You see…" Daisuke began. "Magical people originally came from a world completely separate from the earth that most of humanity calls home. My parents used to tell Jun and myself stories that their ancestors passed down for generations…The creation of the first world always fascinated us, and the could never tell that one story enough times to please us."

"From the darkness of nothingness came the magic that created all life. It spread and made the earth and the flowers, and the water and the sky, and all manners of living things. The sun. That's why I felt that all this was somehow familiar…because I've heard the story of its happenings all my life…"

There was silence. "I'd think that it was just coincidence, but all our stories spoke of six magical gods, and goddess, and their familiars…Gods who took the form of children…"

"Us?!" Hikari asked.

"Exactly," Daisuke nodded his agreement. "Legends proclaimed that the gods were an elite team who protected many worlds with their magic and the help of their familiars, who were constantly changing."

"So…we've gone back to the beginning of the magic world, which is the sister of Earth from what I gather from Daisuke's explanations. My time displacement spell was only intended to take me back to the start of the Digital World, but I didn't have any idea about the balance that all three worlds share…"

Ken's statement got them four blank looks. Daisuke chuckled. "Sorry, I guess we're getting ahead of ourselves in our explanation…" he grinned. "Its just easier for Ken to understand this than you, because of our mind merge. He can just read my thoughts, rather than have me speak them aloud to him. Its like…what I know…he knows. And pictures and emotions would be easier for you to understand too if you could, but…" he shrugged and gave them another small smile.

"Um…right…" Takeru nodded, but he looked as though he hadn't a clue as to what Daisuke was babbling about.

Daisuke sighed. "I mean, when I can explain it in my head…" he looked around at them. "Wow, I'm babbling just like Miyako huh? I'm just making it worse, aren't I?" He glanced at his friends and they all nodded.

Ken laughed, and Daisuke was delighted to hear his soul mates honest amusement echoing within him. It wasn't the arrogant laughter of the Digimon Kaizer, harsh and cruel, but a beautiful laugh that was pure and innocent in nature. He giggled along with him.

"Okay…where was I? Oh yeah…This world, as pure as it is right now, will eventually after many millenniums become chocked with the magic. It began dieing. Many people here actually died from the magic that they so loved and treasured. It was because there were no rules that the earth here became infected and polluted. So what could we do?"

"Many of the strongest enchanters and mages got together and decided that the world was too sick, and all they could do was to abandon it and save at least their own lives and the little magic that they carried inside themselves. So they ripped open a doorway in the fabric of the world walls, because they knew that there were many worlds, and we came to the Earth that I know.  
"Of course there was already human life there, but not possessing the magic that we had, you progressed much more slowly," Daisuke shrugged and apology. "We knew that rules needed to be set in place so that we did not foolishly poison this new world as we had the old one. And that was when we decided never to reveal our true powers to the rest of humanity, for if normal people knew that magic existed, they would want magical answers to all of their problems."

Ken looked at Daisuke. "You left out the part about the Digital World."

"I did? Oops," Daisuke chuckled. "The most important part and I go and forget it…"

The others gave each other a look that they saved only for Daisuke, and Ken smiled. 

Daisuke proceeded unperturbed. "Well you see, in trying to break through to your world, we broke into the Digital World as well, which is much more than a bunch of digital data on a computer like some believe, and that left it accessible to ours. So the Digital World is important to my kind because, in a way, we are connected to it."

"You know…" Takeru began. "If I wasn't so used to strange, and unexplainable things happening in my life, I'd think I was dreaming right now…"

"It all seems so incredible…" Hikari agreed.

"That would be so cool…" Miyako said. "To have magic, I mean."

"I don't know Miyako…" Iori looked thoughtful. "Is magic really all that reliable?"

* * *

"Of course it is," Daisuke responded huffily. "Magic is extremely reliable."

No sooner had Daisuke said this than a harsh wind began to pick up around them, ripping and tearing at their clothing, and storm clouds, complete with lightening and thunder, filled the previously blue sky.

"You were saying…?" Takeru asked.

"Well…its dependable…when you know what you're doing…" Daisuke yelled over the wind. "But this spells got me kinda lost…"

"Oh that's just great!" Miyako growled.

"What's happening now?!" Hikari screamed.

"I don't know!" Daisuke responded.

"Well something's happening!" Even Iori shouted, and usually he was completely cool through any situation.

"AAaaaaahh!!" 

Everyone screamed as the world around them melted and swirled into oblivion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Ken: ***sighs* **_Its another cliffhanger…if you couldn't guess…._

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Dragon Lady: _Sorry._ **^^;;**

Ken: ***sighs again***

Dragon Lady: _So…confusing? Did you like it? Hate it? Want me to shut up now? Review pretty please!!!!!_ **^_^**

Ken: _You know…these rants are getting shorter…_**^^;;;**


	5. Chapter Five

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Ken: _Oh, look who finally decided to continue this story_.

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Dragon Lady: ***blushes* **_Sorry…I kinda…got stuck for ideas here…_

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Ken: _Major writers block. _

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Dragon Lady: ***agrees with muse* **_Such a painful thing to deal with._

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Ken: _I'm sure. Just as long as you've finally gotten part five out._

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Dragon Lady: _This story really isn't turning out as good as I hoped…_***sighs* **_I really know what I want to happen, but somehow I just can't seem to put it into the words that I want! Very frustrating…So…I hope this chapter lives up to the last._

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Ken: DigimonDragonLady _doesn't own Digimon. So you can't sue her. _

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Dragon Lady: _Onto the story._

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Ken: _The long awaited Chapter Five of Magical Game. _

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Dragon Lady: ***cheers***

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Magical Game

By: DigimonDragonLady

When Daisuke opened his eyes once again it was to a place of white. He cried out in protest. It was so colorless that it hurt to look at it. Eventually he began to accustom his eyes to its strangeness. The only color other than white that could be seen anywhere, was the children that had been thrown into this odd place.

He could see Ken and Hikari, and Miyako, Takeru, and Iori. They all seemed to be fine, except for the fact that they were having difficulty seeing anything as well. "Daisuke, what happened to us?" Miyako demanded.

He shook his head in confusion. "I…I don't know, Miya," he said, somewhat apologetically. "I really wish that I did…"

In truth he was extremely annoyed with his inability to figure out just what was going on here. Ken's spell had been one of time displacement, an immensely complex spell that spoke a lot for Ken's magical potential. While he knew the basics of the spell, he didn't know what Ken was intending to use it for. He'd never actually gotten a chance to see what the instructions tied into the spell had been trying to achieve…

"Hey Ken," he called out. "A little help in figuring this out, huh?"

"What can I do?" Ken asked.

"Your time displacement spell…just what was if _for_?"

"…What do you mean?"

"Well…there was obviously a purpose for it, right? What were you trying to do with it?"

"Well…its kind of difficult to say…" he frowned. "It was right after you'd gotten your new digiegg…and freed MetalGreymon. I was thinking about the digimentals that you Chosen Children possess, and I guess I came to the conclusion that the Digital World was using magic of its own against me."

"Digital World magic?" Daisuke puzzled aloud. "Something I should have considered a long time ago, I suppose… Keep going…" he prompted.

"I thought that maybe I could try and find out how the Digital World was getting its magic, so I could use its magic to overcome…well…you." Ken sounded a little sheepish. "And…I thought that the only way to do that, was going to be to go back to the beginning of the Digital World."

"So your spell was designed to take you to the start of the Digital World."

"I thought so," Ken replied.

"But…then how come it didn't?" Takeru asked in confusion.

"Didn't it take us to your world instead, Daisuke?" Iori asked.

"Yes…" Daisuke mused. "It took us to my world. And not even to my world, to the darkness before my world. So from that darkness, Ken and I created the first magic world…"

"So…in some strange, bizarre way…Ken's spell took us to create your world, which eventually opened the digital world to our own Earth…" Hikari said.

"That must be why!" Ken nodded. "My spell took us to the world of Daisuke's ancestors, because the Digital World wasn't even accessible until they made their opening between that world and the real one…"

"This still doesn't make any sense to me…" Miyako sighed. "I'm more confused now than I was ten minutes ago…" she complained.

Then perhaps it is time you found someone to explain it to you. 

They all put their hands over their ears at the massive voice that boomed out. "Who…or what are you?" Takeru asked.

A strange light in front of them grew, shifting and changing in color, from blue, to purple, and back again. And when they could actually see what was before them, for a moment they were speechless. An enormous dragon looking creature hovered there.

Chosen Children, my name, is Azulongmon.

"Azulongmon?" Iori questioned. "What does that mean to us?"

Nothing, I'm sure. The great beast replied. 

"Ookaaaay…" Miyako muttered.

"Try another question," Hikari suggested.

"Where are we?" Ken asked.

In the very heart of the Digital World.

"What are we doing here?"

You know the answer to that question already. You were brought here through the magic of the Chosen enchanters. The enormous dragon seemed amused. I daresay it was shock enough for them to find out that they were the creators of all magical things.

Daisuke shrugged. Miyako rolled her eyes at him. "Don't go getting a big head now," she instructed.

Daisuke stuck his tongue out at her.

"Get serious you two," Hikari ordered. "This is important."  
Indeed. The Chosen Child of Light speaks the truth. Azulongmon informed them. In being a part of the future, you have now become parts of the past. Do you understand what I mean?

"I…think so," Iori replied. "You're saying that because Daisuke and Ken created magic with their own, that there's something more that we have to do here?"

Azulongmon nodded. Precisely. Very wise, Chosen Child of Knowledge. Having come this far, there is a greater plan that lays in the making.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daisuke frowned. "So what if we made the magic world? Can't we just end the spell and go home already?"

Azulongmon turned his gaze on Daisuke. Young one, have you yet to understand the balance between the worlds?

"I think…" Ken amended. "That we're still missing some vital information, in order to fully understand."

Azulongmon looked for a long time at him, and Ken shifted uneasily. Always prepared to make peace between friends, Kaizer? he asked. You are somewhat of an unexpected variable, you know.

"Me?" Ken looked confused.

Azulongmon nodded. Yes, indeed. Interesting, and curious. Very curious.

Ken looked uncomfortable. "Sorry…but what's curious?"

The corruption of your magic by the world that you helped to design, of course. Azulongmon answered, as if that were obvious. 

Ken blinked, and the Chosen Children stared. Azulongmon blinked back. Surely you know that the Dark World that coexists beside the Digital one in your true time is the same world from whence the first magic came?

"Wh-what?" Ken stammered.

"You mean…the dark ocean?" Hikari shivered. "The beautiful world that Ken and Daisuke created…became…_that_?"

The Dark World's influence on Ken is what turned him from his gentle nature to evil. Azulongmon seemed sad. Unfortunate, but not completely unexpected, that. he told them.

"You've been to the Dark Ocean?" Hikari asked Ken.

He nodded. "Only once," he whispered. "A long time ago."

Upon the death of your brother. Azulongmon noted.

Ken scowled. "I know that! You don't have to remind me!" he snapped, and then softened. "I remember. All too well."

A pity. Azulongmon commented. Upon the loss of your brother you turned to that which was the worst for you. Without his influence you weakened.

"So I'm not as strong as Osamu was," Ken muttered. "I know that as well."

"You're strong Ken," Daisuke told him. "Don't ever think that you're not."

"No. What I am now…is not what I was," Ken murmured. "I suppose that living behind a mask of hate was somehow easier…it was all easier to bear."

Easier to bear than the truth? Azulongmon question. Easier to bear the nature of the Kaizer than that of your crest?

"Kindness?" Ken asked in loathing. "A joke."

Daisuke stepped forward. "Enough," he ordered. "What else must we do before we can go back?"

Azulongmon sighed. Much. he answered. As you began the history of your world, so did you begin the history of the Digital one. In order for the Digital World to exist, there had to be the power of one of magic to sustain it. You set the course for the wizards, who set the course for the digital world. Always enchanters. Always one enchanter with each group of Chosen Children.

"One to each group?" Hikari asked faintly. "But there have been two groups so far… What about the first one?"

For the first group of Chosen, the enchanter to bring power to this world was Yamato Ishida. 

Takeru stared at him in shock. "Y-Yamato?" He looked at Daisuke, who merely shrugged.

"Oh of course I know your brother is an enchanter," he answered the blonde's unspoken question. "He knows that I am one as well. Its an unspoken rule that we never reveal ourselves to ordinary mortals unless its strictly necessary. Even though he's your brother, he couldn't tell you, because you yourself possessed no magic."

Takeru just blinked and Azulongmon continued. The second enchanter to give power to our world, was none other than one of the creators, Ken Ichijouji. Now they all turned to gape at Ken, who blushed and shrugged. 

Unfortunately life became too unbearable for one so young…perhaps it was not advisable to have brought him into it so early in life. The strain was too great for him, and at the death of first his Digital World partner and friend, Ryo Akiyima, and then his brother, Osamu Ichijouji, the once bearer of Kindness was the only Chosen to forsake his crest.

Daisuke moved up beside Ken, and lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. He said nothing at all, understanding that Ken would rather nothing be said.

And the third of course is Daisuke Motomiya. Azulongmon ended. From Yamato came the crests, and the power behind the digieggs comes from Daisuke.

"Glad to be of service," Daisuke smirked.

And…through this strange warp…you are all responsible for choosing the Chosen Children. You must make sure that every one of you here now is chosen for the protection of this world, and all that have come before you. And you, Daisuke and Ken, must choose the future enchanter.

"Oh is that _all_?" Daisuke asked sarcastically. "Silly me thinking we might somehow get to return home in the next few years."

I assure you Courage, it will not take any amount of _years_ to accomplish this task. But in any case, you are stuck here until you finish.

Daisuke sighed and looked around at the rest of the Chosen. "Well…I guess that doesn't leave us with much of a choice…"

"All right, all right," Miyako growled. "So we make sure that nothing in the future is gonna change because of this, and then we get back to our time and tar and feather Ken for getting us into this situation."

Takeru, Hikari and Iori merely looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Daisuke laughed softly and whispered in Ken's ear. "Don't worry. Miya's only kidding. She wouldn't tar and feather you."

"I wouldn't put it past her Ken," Takeru laughed, and Daisuke shot him a dark look for teasing the boy. 

Miyako sighed. "No, I wouldn't actually. You're much too cute." She winked at Ken, who found himself blushing hotly.

Daisuke laughed, and kissed him softly on the lips. "See…now she's flirting with you because she always does that with guys that she knows she can never have."

"Daisuke, you jerk!"

"I love you too, Miya," he sang out sweetly, batting his eyes innocently.

"Come on you guys, quit fooling around," Iori said. "Lets just get this over with, and get home in time for dinner."

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Dragon Lady: _Not really a terrible cliff hanger this time…_

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Ken: _Not really._

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Dragon Lady: ***sighs* **_It still didn't turn out the way I wanted it to…I was hoping to clarify some things…but I think I just ended up making it worse…_**-_-;;;;**

Ken: _Well…at least you can say that you haven't given up on the story._

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Dragon Lady: _I suppose._

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Ken: _Well…Chapter Seven coming up next right?_

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Dragon Lady: ***nods in agreement*** _I'm hoping to make Chapter Seven my last one, but I'm not actually sure its going to turn out that way._ ***shrugs* **_But I do know there's not going to be more than eight chapters to the thing._

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Ken: _And then it turns out to have ten…_

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Dragon Lady: _DON'T say that Ken! Ten chapters…_**o.O **_Too much…And me with writers block too…_

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Ken: ***shrugs shoulders***

Dragon Lady: _Actually…if all goes well…I'm thinking about writing a kind of prequel to this, only season one, which is something I've never done before…and making it all about Yamato's magic… But NO promises okay people?! I've got enough to do as it is…_***mutters about "For Love of Evil" under her breath***

Ken: _Review please._

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Dragon Lady: _Yes! Review! Only one to two more chapters (hopefully) to go! _**^_^**


	6. Chapter Six

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Dragon Lady: _FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

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Ken: _I-I can't believe my eyes. Is this Magical Game that you're updating?!_ **O.O**

Dragon Lady: _Yes it is!!!_

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Ken: **O.O**

Dragon Lady: ***jumps around happily* **_I have beaten my writers block!! Whoo hoo!_

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Ken: _Good for you dl!_

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Dragon Lady: _At least for the moment anyway. _**^^;;;**

Ken: **-_-;;;**

Dragon Lady: _Anyway! Chapter six! Done! No kidding! I think I've finally gotten this story back on track!_

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Ken: _Oh yeah?  
_**Dragon Lady**: ***nods* **_Well… _***hesitates* **_its only going to take a few more spells…_

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Ken: *groans* _I should have known._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;**

Ken: ***sighs* **_Go. Read. Review. And don't sue either. 'Cause she don't own digimon._

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Dragon Lady: _'Don't own'? And this is the guy that inspires my stories._ **o.O **_No wonder they turn out the way they do…_

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Ken: _You mean damn good?_

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Dragon Lady: _You're so egotistical, Ken-chan._

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Ken: _Ooooh. Egotistical, big wo-- Oww!_

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Dragon Lady: ***smiles sweetly and hides paper fan* **_Just ignore the muse. And enjoy my story mina-san._ **^_^**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magical Game

By: DigimonDragonLady

"I'm still confused!" Miyako whined plaintively. "So the Digital World could pick different Chosen Children without our help? Why doesn't any of this make sense?"

"Calm down, Miya," Iori shook his head and smiled in amusement. "I'm sure Daisuke and Ken understand perfectly. Don't you guys?"

Daisuke and Ken looked at each other. "Um…er…of course!" they answered together, sounding very unsure of themselves all the same.

"We're doomed!" Miyako wailed.

Daisuke coughed. "Well…um…I think all we have to do…is…yeah."

"Oh boy," Takeru sighed.

Are you ready? Azulongmon asked.

"No! I said I'm still lost. What exactly are we supposed to be doing again?" Miyako asked. 

Making sure that your future selves are still chosen, as has already been stated several times. Azulongmon responded with a small noise that was almost a sigh. He didn't seem like an incredibly patient person.

"I'm confused too," Daisuke snapped. "How on Earth…er…well, in all the worlds, do you propose that we do that?!" he demanded.

Don't worry yourself enchanter, I am confident in your abilities to come up with a solution.

"That doesn't answer my ques--"

Daisuke blinked. Whoa. That was strange. One minute they had all been in that colorless expanse of nothingness, but now they were standing on a city sidewalk of some place or another. It was late in the evening and there weren't many people out and about, though a few passerby slipped around their little group and continued on their ways. A stray, abandoned newspaper skittered by. 

"Dammit," Daisuke growled in the ultimate frustration. Azulongmon was, of course, no where to be seen.

"Guess he got tired of us," Takeru chuckled.

"How did he do that?" Hikari spoke her confusion aloud; directing the question more to herself than to some particular member of their rag-tag little group. "One minute we were all standing in that place that he referred to as the heart of the Digital World, and now…we're somewhere completely different. In a real part of a world it looks like. Our world I suppose."

"Azulongmon must have sent us here somehow," Iori concluded with a serious nod. "But why, this time, was our transportation instantaneous?" he added his own confused question to the jumble. "In all of the other instances we were sucked through some dark vortex or something of that nature…"

"Dramatics," Ken replied shortly. "Its always about the dramatical presentation." 

"You would know best, I suppose, Kaizer," Iori shot back at him, annoyed by his cold, uncaring words.

"Don't fight, please," Hikari intervened. "We've got much bigger problems right now. The last thing we need is for you two to start arguing."

Ken visibly relaxed and Iori nodded once in acknowledgement of Hikari's words and turned away from the Digital World Kaizer. 

"Hikari's right," Daisuke agreed. "Right now we've got a big job to do. And the bad news is…I've got absolutely no idea how to go about doing it…"

"Wonderful," Takeru sighed.

"I don't know about getting home in time for dinner," Daisuke sighed heavily as well, "we'll be lucky if we even get home some time in the next millennium!"

"Um…Daisuke, we are still in a time displacement spell," Ken reminded him. "Which technically means that --"

"Ken," Daisuke interrupted, "I was just making a little joke there."

"A very little joke," Miyako agreed. Daisuke made a face behind her back.

"Oh…" was all Ken said.

There was a long awkward silence. A car went down the street, sending some standing water from a recent rain up with its wheels. They all looked at each other helplessly.

"Yeah, so anyone here have any bright ideas?" Daisuke asked. "Because I'm open to suggestions here."

"Well, we should definitely start by finding out just where we are," Miyako stated the obvious. 

"Then go on from there," Takeru agreed.

"So…anybody know what this place is?" Miyako asked. "At least we know we're still somewhere in Japan…"

"For all the good that does us," Daisuke sighed.

"It seems like it should be familiar," Ken said slowly, looking around him.

"I feel like I've been here before," Hikari nodded her agreement.

"Heighten View Terrace! Of course," Takeru said suddenly. 

"Excuse me?" Daisuke blinked at him questioningly.

"Takeru's right, we're not far from Heighten-View Terrace, a place where I used to live when I was very young," Hikari explained.

"All of the Chosen Children lived there at one point, and at the same time as one another," Takeru said. "Until there was a "terrorist bombing" incident, which was actually just a cover story made up from the media, because the truth was that a bridge was destroyed by two digimon fighting."

"Two digimon fighting?" Daisuke mused thoughtfully. "Now that's interesting."

"All of us saw it," Hikari went on. "The battle, I mean. That's the reason we were chosen. At least, that's what we were told…"

"Really?" Daisuke asked. He looked excited. "Now that might give us something to work with!"

"How so?" Iori inquired.

"Simple, it should give us an event with which to work that should set every other consecutive event in its proper place in our histories," Daisuke responded with a dismissive wave of his hand, as if it were a silly question. Then he appeared to think about what he'd just said. "On second thought, I take that back. It's really only simple in theory. The hard part is going to be making it work."

"Well, tell us already," Miyako demanded impatiently.

"Well, we obviously have to be the ones to make that event occur. So, what we do is create two digimon and implement a gathering spell when they fight, so that your younger selves, and the first group will be drawn to seeing them. We'll do that by putting all of the traits that represent the first group into the spell. Courage, Friendship, Love, Sincerity, Reliability, and Knowledge. Then we'll have to overlay that gathering spell with a calling spell that will guarantee that whoever witnesses these digimon will be particularly called up at a certain place and time, and link that calling spell to the Digital World so that they will all be transported there once they are called…"

Daisuke breathed out. "Wow…'ya know Ken, you and I are going to be completely drained once we finish this. Probably you more than me, because you're not as used to using so much power all at once. Think you can handle it?"

"I take anything you can, Motomiya," Ken replied airily, and Daisuke smiled.

"Good. So now we have to find our way to Heighten View Terrace and begin creating our digimon."

"But…create a digimon?" Iori asked. "How can you just decide that you want to make a digimon?"

"Don't worry about it, Iori," Daisuke said. "Its enchanter magic, just trust me and know that we can do it."

"That wasn't what I was worried about," Iori mumbled. "Somehow your creating a digimon just doesn't seem right."

But Daisuke didn't hear him, he was too busy making sure that he got down the details of this event that Hikari and Takeru had been called by. 

"So, which digimon in particular?" he asked.

"Greymon, definitely," Hikari answered.

"And Parrotmon," Takeru added.

"We should get going then," Daisuke said. "…I don't suppose anyone knows the way…"

Hikari frowned. "I don't think I could get us there…" she admitted slowly. "I was still really young when my family moved away. I couldn't remember the way." She turned her gaze expectantly to Takeru.

He bit his lip. "I don't know," he said finally, after thinking it over. "I can sort of remember…but I might get us lost…"

Daisuke shrugged. "Not like we haven't been lost before. Just not in our own world. Well all right, Takeru. If you think you can do this, lead us to Heighten View Terrace."

They turned and began to make their way down the street, with Takeru and Hikari at the front of the procession. They were somewhat surprised when Daisuke dropped to the back of the group, letting Iori walk after them, then Ken following him. Usually Daisuke attached himself to Hikari like some kind of bizarre second shadow and bristled when Takeru was anywhere near her, but now he didn't seem at all interested in the pair.

Hikari glanced back at him curiously, to see him talking softly with the Kaizer. Or…former Kaizer? Why did she think, for some reason, that when all this was over Ken would no longer have any desire to be the Kaizer? She watched Daisuke for a moment, and then looked questioningly at Takeru.

He just shrugged at her. "Your guess is as good as mine," he answered her unspoken question. "But…he seems to be awfully attached to Ken all of a sudden."

Hikari smiled to herself. Daisuke and Ken. Their names just seemed to fit. "Good for them," she whispered softly.

Meanwhile, at the back of the line, "Why does it matter which digimon that we use?" Miyako wanted to know. "You could just as well make it a Tyrannomon and a Triceramon couldn't you?"

"But that would change things, wouldn't it," Ken answered, as if their course of action was the only obvious to take. 

"Well, so what?" Miyako asked. "What difference would it make if the Chosen saw a Tyrannomon and a Triceramon instead of a Greymon and a Parrotmon?"

"Because Takeru and Hikari have already seen this as we're creating it," Daisuke explained. "Azulongmon realizes that time is a funny thing, and that's why he instructed us to keep everything the same. Look at what's happened already, Ken and I created a world that existed eons before we were even born!"

"But that world was meant to exist, so obviously something was meant to create it, which means that you and Ken activating that first spell made everything fall into place exactly as it should have," Miyako argued. "You were supposed to create the first wizard world."

"Listen Miyako," Daisuke said, "I could stand here and debate with you about the effects of messing around with the past until the cows come home, but we don't have the time. Just take my word for it. If Takeru and Hikari saw a Greymon and Parrotmon, then that's what digimon they need to be, and those are the ones we're going to make."

"All right. All right, whatever," she replied with a shrug. "It's not like I care either way."

Daisuke just sighed and rolled his eyes he dropped away from Ken a little so he could walk next to her. "Look Miyako," he said gently, "I know you're still confused, but I can try and explain it more to you later." 

"Its all right, Daisuke," she answered. "I do understand that what you and Ken have to do is very important, and that you really don't have time to go explaining every little thing you do in detail. We've already wasted a lot of your time, I'm sure."

"It doesn't matter," Daisuke said, and Miyako continued.

"To be very honest, I am sort of hurt that you haven't trusted any of us as much as to tell us about all of this earlier…"

"I'm sorry about that," Daisuke answered sadly. "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to. There are certain rules, that I know are only there for our protection, but they aren't written in stone. I could have decided to tell you. But I didn't."

"We would have helped you."

"I know that. But sometimes…its best not for you to get involved. Like with Ken…I really couldn't have explained everything, even if I wanted to, because its up to the individual to reveal their magic to the ungifted. I couldn't have said anything about Ken's having magic as well, because it would not be by his choice that you found out…" Daisuke shrugged his shoulders helplessly, a gesture that was beginning to become rather common with them at the moment. 

"Its just…really complicated," he concluded lamely, looking apologetic.

"Yeah." She still sounded somewhat sad. "I guess it would be easier for you and Ken if the rest of us weren't even here. Sure, Takeru's leading us to Heighten View Terrace, but its not like the rest of us have done anything but get in the way. We can't do anything to help you. We're really just along for the ride, huh?"

"You never know," Daisuke answered. "If its any consolation, I hadn't wanted any of you to get dragged into this mess in the first place. You just got pulled along accidentally by some very messed up spells. I would have spared you this."

"And make us miss out on all the action?" Miyako complained with a smile. "I don't think so, Motomiya."

Daisuke just shook his head at the typical Miyako behavior. 

"So…" Miyako made her voice go lower. "What about Ken? I have a feeling everyone's just dying to know…"

"Know what?" Daisuke asked.

Miyako gave him a withering look. "Daisuke, get with the gossip program," she instructed. "Do you like him? The same way you liked Hikari, I mean?"

"Would it upset you if I did?" he asked curiously.

"No, of course not. You two fit, anyone could see it," she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Its just really interesting, because it seemed like it happened all at once. One minute you're drooling over Hikari--"

"I never "drooled" over Hikari," Daisuke retorted waspishly, then grinned. "And it didn't happen all at once, not for me anyway, maybe for Ken."

"Did it happen when you and Ken did that merging spell or whatever?"

Daisuke gave her a "well, duh" look. 

She shrugged. "Just asking. But why give up on Hikari?"

"Because I never really liked her? Hikari's a nice girl, pretty too, and she's a wonderfully sweet person, but she's not…for me. I knew that. Hikari just made my act a little easier. I had to look normal. I couldn't mope around constantly and not exhibit some normal teenage behavior such as crushes. It would be kind of strange explaining to some normal person that I didn't have any interest in going out with someone because I was sitting around waiting for my "soul mate" to waltz into my life."

"Soul mate?" Miyako asked, her eyebrows raising. "You and Ken are soul mates? There even are such things? Its always seemed like such a nice idea…but…"

Daisuke nodded. "Every person with magic in their veins knows that they are born with a soul mate, whether that other person is magical or otherwise. Unfortunately, knowing it doesn't always mean that you're going to find that person. Happiness has never been completely guaranteed." 

Miyako nodded in understanding. 

"But Ken and I do share a soul bond. But sometimes that doesn't always mean that you'll be with your partner well…intimately. Some people who are soul bonded are only very good friends. In the end, I suppose its all just chance."

"Well, I think you and Ken are going to work out," Miyako smiled. "I hope you do. You're just the right kind of person to turn him around, Dai."

"…Thanks."

_~Talking about me again?~ _Ken asked him in amusement.

_~Of course not.~ _Daisuke responded a little too quickly. _~Why would we be doing that?~_

Miyako, of course, wasn't hearing a word of this conversation. Ken continued walking with his attention facing forward, and Daisuke stayed beside Miyako.

_~Liar.~_ Ken accused in amusement.

_~Ken Ichijouji, were you ease dropping?~ _Daisuke demanded hotly.

_~Now why would I do a thing like that?~ _Ken asked innocently.

Daisuke just "hmphed" _~I hope we're almost there,~_ he told Ken. _~This whole thing is beginning to make me really nervous.~_

_~Just "beginning" to?~_ Ken asked.

Daisuke gave a mental version of a shrug. _~Well it's worrying me. I'm starting to think, for some strange reason, that we're going to go through all this and its going to come out to nothing in the end.~_

_~What do you mean?~_

_~I don't know, actually. Its just a feeling I get.~_

_~Well, don't worry too much, Daisuke. Nothing bad could possibly happen to us. And we have to stay together no matter what. After all, don't forget, you're just the kind of person I need to "turn me around".~_

"Ken, you liar!" Daisuke exclaimed aloud, startling Miyako. "You were so listening!"

Ken dissolved into a fit of silent laughter as Daisuke pounced forward to berate him about something. 

Miyako frowned at them. "Did I miss something?" she asked herself aloud. "Guess so." Still. It was good to see Ken happy. 

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Dragon Lady: _Sorry. Boring chapter. _**^^;;;;**

Ken: _Kinda yeah._

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Dragon Lady: _But at least this lets people know I haven't forgotten it, right? _**^^;; **

Ken: ***agrees***

Dragon Lady: _And next chapter our two little enchanters get to create some digimon and do a bunch of other nifty magical things._

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Ken: _'Nifty'?_

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;** _Nifty's a cool word. I like it. Nifty, nifty, nifty. Nifty! _**^^;;**

Ken: **-_-;;;**

Dragon Lady: ***giggles* **_And sophistimicated. I like that word too. _**^_~**

Ken: _Oh brother. And you're how old?_

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Dragon Lady: ***considers the question* **_This many! _***holds up three fingers* **

Ken: ***sweat drop* **

Dragon Lady: ***dissolves into a fit of laughter* **

Ken: _Sorry. Its late…and dl gets really hyper at night. At least in short bursts. She usually ends up completely drifting off after a few minutes though. _***watches dl babble to self about something* **_Any minute now, I'm sure._

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Dragon Lady: _And yeah, anyway, next chapter is going to be so much fun to write, and all kinds of cool things are going to start happening, and its going to be loads of fun, and…and…_***falls forward onto computer desk***

Ken: ***shakes head* **_Just as I thought. She's going to be out of it for the rest of the night._

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Dragon Lady: _ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz _

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Ken: _Good night mina-san! Review please!! I promise I'll make dl work on the next chapter soon! _


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